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Vom Sozialstaat zur Wohlfahrtsgesellschaft?
Akteure zwischen Pflicht und Engagement
Abstracts (english)
Ingo
Bode: A French Miracle? Protests by the Unemployed and Their Infrastructural
Prerequisites. In: Forschungsjournal NSB 11/1998, 2, pp.
Ingo Bode uses the
example of the French movement of the unemployed to demonstrate how
protest by marginal social groups with limited conflict and organizational
capacities can nonetheless be successful. Among the factors that contributed
to success he identifies networks among groups of activists, organizational
support by important representatives of political parties and trade
unions, as well as conducive media coverage. In addition, the protests
gained legitimacy through the widespread support the movement received
from the population. This support derives from the strong loyalty to
the welfare state and the strong position of claims to social citizenship
rights, which characterize French political culture. This French peculiarity
depends on the availability of intermediary actors, who can play a representative
role. Bode concludes that in Germany, too, a new discussion and intermediary
actors are emerging, which could lead to a renewed politicization of
the established interest organizations.
Josef
Schmid: From the ‚Sozialstaat‘ to the ‚Wohlfahrtsgesellschaft‘.
Institutional Change in Social Policy In: Forschungsjournal NSB 11/1998,
2, pp.
Josef Schmid begins
his contribution with a discussion of the models of the ‚Sozialstaat‘
and the ‚Wohlfahrtsgesellschaft‘ and their divergent development
in Western industrialized nations. He then introduces the concept of
welfare society, which does not only encompass the state and the market,
but also the analytically less clear-cut domains of social initiatives
and projects, third sector organizations, as well as the family and
the neighbourhood community. On the basis of a crossnational comparison
he shows that there are different versions of, and roads to a welfare
society. In Germany the discussion on the welfare society has thus far
remained hesitant, as a result of the current configuration of power,
the structure of the social service sector, and historical continuities.
Therefore, the classical ‚Sozialstaat‘ Will according to Schmid
remain an important point of reference for future discussions on, and
efforts at reform in the Federal Republic.
Holger
Backhaus-Maul: Insiders and Outsiders. Independent Welfare and Care
in the German Social Security State. In: Forschungsjournal NSB 11/1998,
2, pp.
In his contribution
on the development of independent welfare and care organizations in
the German welfare state, Holger Backhaus-Maul distinguishes insiders
and outsiders. The large welfare organizations have over the course
of a period of more than one hundred years gained a privileged status
in social legislation, while independent welfare suppliers have long
occupied an outsider position. He discusses research on the third sector,
the development of established welfare associations and their independent
competitors, as well as recent changes in social legislation. The changed
political constellation in the domain of welfare production constitutes
a challenge, both for the established, and for the independent actors.
In a time when new forms of subsidiarity and engagement, a politically
enforced pluralism of supply, as well as efficiency enhancement define
the agenda, both camps will have to redefine their positions. While
the established welfare suppliers deplore the loss of their privileged
position, the alternative associations and groups must fear for their
newly-conquered share in the social market. This situation is further
aggravated by the rise of new commercial suppliers.
Frank
Nullmeier: The ‚Wohlfahrtsgesellschaft‘ of the ‚Sozialstaat‘.
In: Forschungsjournal NSB 11/1998, 2, pp.
Frank Nullmeier analyses the normative connotations
contained in the concept of welfare society. The discussion on the welfare
society focusses primarily on the question of welfare production and
thus refers to the institutional domain. Aspects related to theories
of justice, on the contrary, receive only secondary attention. Nullmeier
shows that as a result of the heterogeneity in the normative logic of
these projects it is not possible to derive a legitimate foundation
for them. From his discussion of the production and logics of welfare
he proceeds to the concept of value estimation. In that context he distinguishes
between "founded" and "reflective" value estimation
and relates this distinction to a definition of the welfare state. He
concludes that a conception of the welfare state based on value estimation
requires both a discursive and deliberative public debate, and a restructuring
of distributive spheres. Thus conceptualized, the welfare society is
not reduced to the institutional domain, but contains the prerequisites
for the production and encouragement of mutual value estimation.
Heinz Janning,
Detlef Luthe, and Frauke Rubart: Quality Enhancement for Voluntary Work.
The Bremen Volunteer Agency. In: Forschungsjournal NSB 11/1998, 2, pp.
Drawing on the theoretical and conceptual contributions
in this volume, Heinz Janning, Detlef Luthe, and Frauke Rubart assess
quality enhancement for voluntary work refering to the example of the
Bremen Volunteer Agency. The primary aim of the Volunteer Agency is
to connect voluntary workers with non-profit organizations. The authors
take issue with the idea that the readiness for civic engagement is
declining. Contrary to this view, they note a change in forms of engagement
in "constructed communities". In its two-year existence, the
Agency has gained the recognition both of those willing to engage themselves,
and of the organizations. Thus, voluntary work can be seen as a "market
of opportunities", in which volunteers offer unpaid engagement
that meets the demand of non-profit organizations.
Sabine Werth:
The „Tables" in Germany. In: Forschungsjournal NSB 11/1998,
2, pp.
Sabine Werth reports on the provision of food to the
poor by the "table" projects, which are successfully developing
in Germany. The idea behind the tables is to collect quality food products
that would otherwise be discarded and to distribute these to social
institutions. The tables rely primarily on volunteer workers. Werth
discusses both the relations between volunteers and professionals, and
the difficulties involved in mobilizing the beneficiaries, such as the
homeless. The tables refuse any kind of State support, because, as Werth
argues, they do not want to have any obligations towards the State.
Instead, the tables draw their financial resources from donations, and
increasingly also from "social sponsoring". In conclusion,
Werth emphasizes that the tables are more than just a modern form of
charity, because in addition they aim to contribute to the thematization
of poverty in a prosperous society.
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